Wicked Liar by Faith Summers

Chapter Seventeen

Dominic

“I smell blood,” I say as we step through the massive metal door. Massimo cuts me a sharp look.

"I smell it too," Aiden agrees, raising his gun.

The scent of fresh blood is feint in the air, but definitely there.

I look around the old factory-style warehouse we were summoned to by Franco, one of the head enforcers. There was a sighting of Kazimir and six Shadow members here not half an hour ago. Now the place is deserted.

The warehouse was one that used to store car parts. Although the automatic lights still work, the large panel glass windows are broken and weeds cover the walls, giving the appearance that the place hasn't been in use for years. I was inclined to think otherwise just for the fact that the lights still work.

We're here with ten of our men and joined by Aiden and five of his guys.

We walk as a group down the path, guns at the ready, and the smell of blood gets stronger the further we get.

“Tell me you don’t smell that,” I say under my breath.

“I do,” Massimo answers.

The surrounding air becomes thicker, denser, almost suffocating with every step I take. When we turn the corner my gaze lands on the reason for the smell. We all stop in our stride when we see two men hanging from the ceiling with ropes around their necks. They're two of our soldiers. I recognize them straight away. They were guys who were watching the streets. Blood drips from the bullet holes in their bodies, their mouths, and from the spaces where their ears and eyes used to be. In true Circle of Shadows style, their ears have been cut off, their eyes have been gouged out, and their tongues sliced.

This is an illustration of my world.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

“Fucking hell,” Massimo says.

"They killed your guys. They wouldn't leave them here like that if they didn't want you to find them," Aiden states and looks around at the levels above us.

"And our guys clearly saw something or someone they shouldn't have seen," I add.

This is a message. One that says stay the fuck away and stop poking around where you don't belong. That's the obvious message indeed. Except, you don't send that kind of message to a boss like Massimo.

This is just like the past. Exactly like what happened before.

"What the fuck do we do now?" Tristan snaps.

"Not sure," Massimo replies.

"Look guys," Aiden says, nodding his head to our left.

There are bloody footprints leading out toward one of the broken windows.

As we look across, a shuffling noise catches my attention and I run over to the window just in time to see a guy trying to get down the fire escape. He's a tall, lanky guy dressed in full black and a balaclava.

"Hey," I shout and leap out the window on to the metal stairs.

At the sound of my voice, the motherfucker bounds down the remaining steps and jumps on to the boardwalk like he’s got fire up his ass.

While Massimo and the others follow behind, I get down the stairs and chase him. The fucker is fast, and he has a head start, but I push forward with everything inside me. When he jumps over the barrier leading down to the beach, I jump too and land straight on him, knocking him to the ground.

The asshole manages to free himself from my grasp, whip around and land a punch in my face. That's okay, he'll pay for that. He seems to be able to fight dirty, but I'm dirtier and one pissed as fuck motherfucker.

Like an animal, I throw myself forward and headbutt him, taking him down once more. I've stunned him and the fall causes him to wind himself.

I rush forward and yank off his mask just as Massimo and the others reach us. The guy looks Russian and young like he's in his early twenties.

I grab his neck and wring it.

"Fucker, tell me where Kazimir is," I demand.

"Go fuck yourself."

I'm ready to give him the beating of his life just for talking to me like that but the asshole surprises me by tossing something in his mouth. I didn't see what it was.

"What was that?"

"We won't stop until you and yours are dead. You, your pretty little dolls and children. All dead. You and your angel, Dominic D'Agostino, dead," the asshole answers and starts laughing.

The fucking threat he's casting on my girl and my family makes fear churn in my gut. But I don't get the chance to register that I'm fazed because seconds later the fucker starts shaking violently. I drop him when froth fills his mouth.

Moments later his body goes still, and I look to my brothers and Aiden.

"What the fuck? He just killed himself," I rasp. That thing he put in his mouth must have been poison.

Aiden steps forward, crouches down, and lifts the edge of the guy's sleeve exposing the fire-crest tattoo common to members of the circle of Shadows. Above it, however, is another tattoo that sends a bolt of shock through me when I look at it properly.

It's a dagger with a cobra going around the handle and the word Eternal in the center of the blade.

"Jesus Christ," I hiss. "Guys, look at that. That's the same tattoo Candace described on the man who killed her parents." I point and they recognize it too.

Massimo seethes. "It can't be him, though. This guy looks like he just started puberty. But that tattoo... it's exactly as she described. It's very distinct."

The tattoo was the only real description we could use to search for the killer. Candace told us the man came in masked like the others, but she recognized him because of the tattoo and the sound of his voice. She didn't have a name, but she'd seen him at her house before that night.

The only other descriptions she could give us were that the man was Italian, had dark hair, dark eyes, and was probably in his mid to late thirties.

Pa searched day and night and for years. He didn't give up until he exhausted everything available to him.

We were the same.

In our world when people like us can't find shit on a person, it means he or she has protection from a bigger fish. It also meant to me that William Ricci was doing some dangerous shit we've never been able to decipher.

All our efforts to get answers and justice for the Riccis deaths were fruitless. All those years of searching and we came up with nothing.

Until now. And... we weren't even looking for anything in relation to them. The man who killed the Riccis and our current problem shouldn't be related at all.

But... what if it fucking is?

Fuck.

"This can't be a coincidence," I state with a grimace. "We couldn't even find anyone with a similar tattoo. Now it's thirteen years later and we find an exact match?"

"That's because it's not a coincidence. I know this for a fact it can not be," Aiden declares and my gaze snaps to him.

"You know?" I incline my head and assess my Russian friend. The man who I already guessed has many secrets.

His flinty gaze hardens. "I do know. This man belongs to a group called the Order. They do not work in coincidence. If you see one, it's not random, and they wouldn't just kill for the run of the mill either," Aiden enlightens us. "Like the Circle of Shadow members, that tattoo is a symbol of their oath. This man belonged to both groups. This is evidence of the alliances Mortimer Viggo made."

I narrow my eyes. "I've never heard of them." A quick look at Massimo and Tristan and I can see from the lost looks on their faces that they're touched by the same spell of confusion as me.

"You wouldn't have. They aren't like the people in the circles we travel in. I… came across them by accident. This is what they do when they get caught. Kill themselves," he explains, and I wonder how he came by them. "This all makes sense now." Aiden nods like he's figured it all out.

"What makes sense Aiden?" I ask because I'm still in the dark.

"The other people who signed the contract to the King. Bradford and Karl are black market criminals who work for high-level people. I think they're all part of this group too. The Order is known to work for people like crooked politicians.” Aiden looks at each of us. “They do their dirty work."

Fuck.It does make sense now.

People like that are definitely bigger fish.

And I was right. We are in danger.

How the fuck did William Ricci get mixed up with people like that though?

And this dead fucker just threatened Candace specifically.

He knew she was my angel.

Fucking fuck.